Source criticism
We all know it; the hunt for the perfect source. The source that perfectly supports your argument or provides the missing piece in your academic puzzle.
But how do you know whether you can “trust” your source? Is it reliable, is it credible, and can it even be used in an academic context!?
When assessing whether a source can be used in an academic context, there are five essential parameters you must consider: author, motive, currency, relevance, and argument.
All five parameters are equally important and interconnected.
Is AI a good source?
If you use generative artificial intelligence in your academic writing, you should be aware that it cannot be used as a source of knowledge in the same way as books, articles, and websites, for example.
GAI systems are not always good at assessing the truth or accuracy of their answers. Therefore, you should be extra critical and not trust AI blindly; always make sure to fact-check and use reliable sources.
Author
Key points
- Find out who wrote the text! What is the author’s background?
- Is the author a researcher, journalist, student, blogger, professional, or something else?
- What type of source is it? A textbook, a newspaper, a journal, a product catalogue, a commercial website?
It is always important to look at the source’s author; that is, who wrote or produced the source.
Is it a credible author, and does the author have a professional foundation? For example, does he or she have specific knowledge of the subject, or is it merely a random “Mr. Anybody” with personal opinions? In that case, you should be very cautious about using the source in your academic assignment.
Also remember to be cautious of commercial authors who want to sell a particular product or service. For example, this could be a company reviewing its own product and, coincidentally, being extremely positive about its many qualities.
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Motive
Key points
- Consider motives and interests! Why was the source written, and what is its purpose?
- Does the source want to entertain you, communicate information, explain, sell, argue, or document something?
- What interests are involved: commercial, political, journalistic, professional?
When evaluating a source, it is also important to consider the source’s motive.
It may sound strange, but fundamentally it is about taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture: What does the source actually want from you, and what is its motive? Does it want to entertain you and make you smile? Is it trying to sell you a product? Or does it perhaps have a political motive and seek to convince you of a specific message or ideology?
Obviously, some sources can have several motives at the same time. For example, a professional article may use humour as a communication tool, but generally speaking, sources whose primary motive is entertainment, politics, or commerce do not belong in an academic assignment.
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Currency
Key points
- Always check when the source was written! Is it still current?
- Is there perhaps a newer source or more recent knowledge available?
- How important is news value to your assignment?
Always consider currency when assessing whether a source can be used in an academic context.
Currency concerns whether a source is up to date and still valid.
In certain disciplines, developments move very quickly, and even sources that are only a year old may seem hopelessly outdated. On the other hand, there are also fields where fundamental theories rarely change. For example, Pythagoras’ theorem has remained unchallenged for the past 2,500 years.
However, in most cases, it is important to check whether you are working with the newest and most current knowledge available.
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Relevance
Key points
- Consider whether the source is the most suitable for your assignment! Is the source right for your purpose?
- Is the source at the correct academic level? Is the level too low?
- Who is the text written for? Students, professionals, researchers, ordinary people?
It is important that your source is relevant to the topic you are investigating, but what does it actually mean for a source to be relevant?
It involves several things. Most importantly, the source must support what you want to say in your assignment and not merely touch on your topic superficially. You must therefore ensure that you select the source that best covers what you want to highlight. This means, for example, that even the most credible research article may fail the relevance criterion because it may not actually be relevant to you and what you are writing about.
Conversely, a source may also be weak in terms of relevance if it does not have a sufficiently high academic level, especially if it is intended to support a main argument.
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Argument
Key points
- Check whether there are references to other sources that support the arguments.
- Do the arguments hold up, and are they easy to understand?
- Is there a common thread and coherence throughout the text?
If you are going to use a source in an academic context, it is important that the arguments in the source are sound.
The source must be academically coherent, the reasoning must be transparent, and the reader must be able to follow it from beginning to end. There should be no reason to question the source’s credibility, and the arguments in the source should ideally build upon the knowledge of others.
More specifically, there should be references to other sources, the language should be grammatically correct, the individual sections should support one another, and the overall line of reasoning should be easy to follow.
Conversely, you should be cautious if there are numerous spelling errors, if the argumentation appears full of gaps and disorganised, or if it appeals to your emotions rather than your reason.
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Levels of knowledge
Key points
- Use knowledge at a professional or scientific level in academic assignments.
- Some sources, such as legislation and standards, may be difficult to place within the knowledge hierarchy but are entirely legitimate to use in an academic assignment.
When working with sources for academic purposes, a distinction is generally made between three levels.
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